Feeling the Pressure..(1805-1)

　　同伴压力——既是压力，也是动力。

Feeling the Pressure, Handling the Pressure

　　Whether it’s owning the latest gadget or wanting the latest style, peer pressure affects us all. Holiday season is the worst. Someone always seems to have received more money in their red packet or a better gift than you. It can be downright embarrassing to admit to the friend who got an iTouch for Christmas, that all you received was a pair of socks. Yes, holiday season was always tough for me. My parents rarely celebrated Chinese New Year. So, while my Chinese friends would wait with bated breath for their fat packet of cash, I would deliberately steer clear of the question “How much money did you get?” knowing the answer would be “Not much.”

　　Social situations are also tricky. At school, I was short, wore braces (牙套) on my teeth and my haircut was always uneven. I was the opposite of “cool”. The “cool” girls had boyfriends, smoked and wagged school. But I was lucky to find a group of friends with whom I felt comfortable and wasn’t pressured to be somebody that I wasn’t. While there may be pressure to skip school or be thin or to smoke, it is a test of character to resist and to be the person that you know you should be.

　　But not all pressure is bad. To achieve our goals and aspire to be better, we often need a little push. In fact, being under pressure often motivates us to work harder and stay focused. The iTouch will fall apart and new clothes will go out of fashion, but people will remember you for the things that you achieve, not the things that you own. By next year, you may have learned a new skill, improved at school, or had a new experience, and the best thing is that these will never go out of fashion.